Hi everyone~
I'm interested to know what you are reading... what the book is about, who is important in the book, why you are reading it, etc.
I'm in between books right now, I was at BN last night and bought 8 more fantasy and another ?murder mystery? I know there is now a genre for using techical science to solve crimes, but can't think of it.
Anyway, I want to take up something different, but don't know what direction to go.
Help!
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I just finished reading "The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure"
ReplyDeleteThis story, like the movie, is very different from most novels as it is a story within a story. I was very pleased at how close they kept the movie to the book, as I was concerned some of my favorite scenes from the movie would not be in the book.
Inconceivable!
What is unique about this story is the story within the story as the author describes the difficulty he had in abridging the original, the making of the movie, and the sequel.
Laura
Right now I am reading StormBlade (a DragonLance) and The Great Gatsby. Stormblade is about a blade touched by a god and then goes missing. One of the foregers sets out to find and return it and thats all I have read so far.
ReplyDeleteMy post talks about Gatsby.
MissKatana
I just finished "the Stranger" by Camus. It has in interesting, if predictable, ending that I thank concludes the story well.
ReplyDeleteDad, Orion, and I just finished "Tuck Everlasting" which, though it was for a younger audience, was still a fun story. I'm also reading "Around the World in Eighty Days" with Dad and "Artemis Foul: the Opal Deception" to myself, among others.
I read "The princess Bride" some time ago (actually Dad read it aloud). I like how the auther uses the story within a srory style to brake up the story and make each section more cohesive. I am reading (1) The World Without Us, a look at how the world would recover from humans (2) Shadow of the Hegemon by Orison Scott Card, it is a book in the Ender series. It is a good sci-fi story. (3) Dragons Keep, (4) The sparrow (5) The Monkey Wrench Gang, (6),(7) I just finshed Tuck Everlasting and a book by David Sidaris. (8) Fiction 100 a compilation of short stories, and (9) The Childern of Hurin (Tolken).
ReplyDeleteHas any one else read "The Princess Bride"? I think that it is well written. The skill with which the author "forges" the story almost make you want to find S. Morgensterns's book; though it does not exist. I also think that the interrupted story line adds to the suspense. The story seems to me to jump around in the plot line; I think that this is intentional and add to the distinct style of the writer.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to say that I am also reading TK Landauer's "Psychology: a Brief Overview" and a book of mythology by Edith Hamilton.
No I haven't read the book, but I have seen the movie. Not the same, but close enough. We have a copy in the library, I'll add it to the list of books I should read.
ReplyDeleteWe have "The Princess Bride"? What section? I know we have the movei! I can't wait until we get all 3500+ books put into the ATA Library at Google Books!!! So, let me get this straight (I have also seen the movie, great fencing.)... There is a story about a beautiful girl who is kidnapped by the evil dude, and the hero goes to save her with the help of some... unusual characters. Where does this other book within the book come in?
ReplyDeleteAmanda, in answer to your question, the author, William Goldman, writes the story as if he had the "real" book read to him as a child while he was ill with pnomenia(sp) in an abridged format (it was abridged by his father while reading). At the section breaks he explanes his search to find the "real" book, and his disappontment when he found that it was not the same thing as his father had read to him. at the end he also implies there will be another book in the secquence, which I don't balieve there is.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you think the author used this "story within a story" would the baseline plot (girl gets kidnapped by evil dude) be too simple otherwise for a book?
ReplyDeleteCan anyone think of any other books with a story within a story???
I don't think that it would be too simple otherwise, as the plot of the "inside" story is not simple nor the ideas. However the "outside" story's plot mirrors the plot of the "inside" story, but with in more mundain fasion. The "mirroring" enforces the epic adventure of the "inside" story. eather the "inside" or the "outside" story could be told by themselves; granted the "outside" story would need more detail and refinement, I have watched the movie, but I do not remember if it puts as much into the "outside" story as the book does, I think not.
ReplyDeleteHi all, thanks for letting me join you in the blogosphere.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed The Princess Bride when I read it years ago, and enjoyed it just as much when I read it more recently. It has all the elements of high adventure, and the story-within-the-story thing helps connect the reader to the storyteller. It's a fun style.
My current "outside reading" book is "Lies, and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, a Fair and Balanced Look at the Right" by Al Franken. It's a great read if you are at all interested in recent history. My political views are in line with the author, so of course I think everything he's written is right on. So often while I'm reading I wonder how a staunch Republican would feel if they were to read the same this. Would they feel the way I do when I read their hugely slanted propoganda? (Can you tell my bias?) Anyway it's a fun read that I recommend.
Tom
Hello again~
ReplyDeleteI just finished reading "The Subtle Knife" by Phillip Pullman. My biggest question is, “has anyone ever compared Pullman to Tolkien?” I found the book just as long and unnecessarily tedious as Tolkien. I do appreciate the descriptive language, but enough is enough!
I felt the entire way through the book that it was all just set-up. I also find kind of interesting that 'people' are complaining about the JK Rowling books being dark, but this was just as dark and more depressing. There wasn't any light at the end of the tunnel in "The Subtle Knife" I won't say more because I don't want to give anything away, but if you are reading it, don't expect to be happy or relieved when it finishes. I will certainly make myself read the next in hope that it finishes positively, but I don't really want to.
Am I programmed to want a 'happy ending'? Maybe. Or, maybe I read to uplift my mood and frame of mind. I do read murder mysteries, and some other violent things, but they all finish. Sometimes I have to read way past when I should because I CAN'T put the book down in the middle of a scary/nasty part.
Ah, well, some folks enjoy romances and other "drivel" (in my opinion). I guess they are looking for romantic lightness in their lives.
Do we like to read things that fill a void in our lives??? Oh, boy, THAT is a really big question!
What Amanda calls "tedious" is not so. What makes the book good is the detail with which the world is portrayed; it makes for more engaging reading, as one can actually be in the world with the characters. Some may say that that can be done with one's imagination, however the style of these books allows for imagination AND a very clear setting in which the imagination can roam.
ReplyDeleteOne of the possible reasons the Rowling books are complained about is because they are so popular. Whenever many people like a book, others have complaints. This could be because jealousy, or a need to find the bad in everything, or really anything.
These books ARE dark, and maybe depressing, but is this bad? The topic itself seams to me to be a very serious and ultimately important one, even though it takes place in Si-Fi land, this aspect might lend an air of impossibility to the story, but the reality made by Pollmen this might be the case, who are we to know? Our experiences are what we PERCEIVE, and we only perceive what our brain can comprehend and process (for more information see What the Beep do we Know). So what is real or unreal, and how can we tell the difference as the limited beings that we are? Life is philosophically dark, perhaps the author used the darkness to show that we are not as enlightened to "reality" as we might think. There are some coincidences, but this might be because this is the way that it is meant to happen, even though it is not ordained by The Authority. Even in the Cristen beliefs there are some mistakes and errors that God has made, so even though he is all-knowing he is not all-wise. Maybe he DID want the rebellion to "win" for some greater purpose that we can not even conceive of, or that we can and just have not though of yet.
ReplyDeleteOrion neatly sidestepped my last question. Besides that, is Pullman not popular then if folks complain about Rowling but not him? No, that's not the case. Granted Rowling went to film before Pullman, but part of that is the rise from the gutter story of Rowling's life.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I do think that Pullman (and Tolkien) could have given us lots of fodder for our imagination without taking 3 books to tell one simple story.
I don't have a problem with "darkness" per se, I was bringing up the concept in part because Rowling has been lambasted. My other problem with the tone was the entire second book was depressing. If life were that way, why bother? Knowing there was a third book made it a little easier to take, but if I had read it when published not knowing there was a third, I might never have looked at Pullman again.
I've read a couple of other authors who killed off my favorite characters (Melanie Rawn, has about 100 characters in every book and kills 1/2 of them off each time.) I finally stopped reading them because I needed a scorecard and didn't want to see all my "friends" die! I need a light at the end of the tunnel.
When folks look at me "eyebrows raised" when I say I read fantasy, I usually rebutt with "reality is depressing enough, I don't want to read more reality".
So, why do I read?
To fill that void?
Just about ANY story can be written in less than 20 pages (may be not War and Peace). The skill of an author can be shown in some ways in how well they write in concise form. However, this is not the case when the author is that of a novel. A novel is the telling of a tale, hopefully in the most interesting way possible. An author writing a novel wishes to achieve this. How this is achieved is a matter of style; whether this style is enjoyable is a matter of personal opinion. The number of books that a story takes to tell depends on the style and on the publishers' choice.
ReplyDeleteThe His Dark Materials series was marketed as a three book set, with "installments". This would make the waiting reading of the three more bearable. For those of you that have not read the first book, the overall tone is lighter; however, there is darkness at the end of the tunnel.
I shall now speak of "drivel". What is "drivel"? Whatever you do not like/find to light to bother with. In one opinion, things that do not make on think are "drivel". This telling of the tale of Lyra and Will etc. was not drivel in the above stated manner; it was a profound tale, if viewed from the perspective of the thinking mind. However, if read for enjoyment only, and not from a perspective of enlightenment, it could be seen as profoundly "drivel". What can be taken away from this could be "it is what YOU make it.”
The Tolkien books are the same way, if one reads it for suspense only, then it is quite boring. However, if read for the imaginational building block that it creates, it is an amazing tale, with the setting in extreme detail, yielding a great starting point for other self-made-up stories.
Good throw down!
ReplyDeleteFirst, I was NOT calling Pullman, Tolkien, Paolini (might have spelled that wrong, (Eragon's author) drivel.
Any story that you can read the back cover, and tell someone what the plot was about (more than good vs. evil, battles between good guys & bad guys, or challenge to main character then succeding through challenge then good or bad final ending depending on tone of back cover) like a Harlequin Romance for example, is drivel. I have read drivel. Lots of it. Sometimes that's what I want!
I think it comes down to, I read to learn about the characters. I don't much care about the setting unless it has some vital import to the characters.
Now, a journey across a nasty mountain range, and good description of the ice spires, snow pebbles that slide under the foot, etc. makes for better reading than a journey across an empty parking lot... But again, it's what goes on with the characters on that icey mountain and how they almost slide to their death because of the snow conditions.
I do continue on and tell myself stories about my favorite characters. I even went so far as to start a Vermont Chapter of the fan club for my favorite author back when I had time. We all created characters of our own to live in that world with. There were rules of how to acquire certain ablities based on roles of dice, etc.
But, it was still the characters that got me. Guess that's why I'm not a huge fan of Tolkien, or Pullman, or Paolini. The character building parts are too spread out. I want the character built the way Tolkien builds a leaf in his stories. Show me, don't tell me.
Anyway. Where to next? Why do we read????
There is apparent contradiction in the last comment posted by "Amanda". The story of The Inferno, for example, is much like Tolkien or Pullman in the grand description, and in the "tediousness". It is known that Amanda has read, and liked, this tale, as this was one of the reasons for the study of it this year in English. How is this contradiction rationalized?
ReplyDeleteWhy "we" read is a very broad topic. There are many reasons. Not the least of which is for work, "we" read to fulfill the requirements of "our" commanders/bosses/teachers. As for why "we" read, and what we read, for fun or enjoyment; that is a question answerable only by each person individually. So, why do I read? Often for intellectual stimulus, as in the case of His Dark Materials, and most sci-fi; or, I read for the location and world that is made, as in the case of most fantasy that I read. From this world, I am able to make whatever characters I want. Whereas if give characters and little or no setting, it is more difficult to create a world and other characters, or expound on the ones made by the author. This is because of unsatisfactory environmental input into the characters.
So now, what about why we read the newspaper? Or, why do we re-read books we've already read? Both could be thought of as "tedious" and there clearly are "characters" in both. I've read both of these things recently. I certainly read the newspaper differently than I re-read an enjoyable book, even though in both there is an element of "already knowing what is coming." The newspaper I might read closely or skim or even skip over whole sections. The re-reading of a book I'll do with just as much interest in every word as the first time I read it (mostly) if it's a well written book. I know that life is too short to waste time reading and/or re-reading drivel but if a book is well done, I am still fascinated by the writer's ability to transport me into the reality they've created.
ReplyDeleteI have finished reading Mossflower by Brian Jacques. It is about how the woodland creatures rebelled against Tsarmina, the greedy wildcat Queen of a Thousand Eyes. She, and her vermin hordes from her fortress, Kotir, set out to make all the woodlanders hers. Martin the Warrior, the brave warrior mouse, comes across her, and she imprisons him. Later, Gonff the Mousetheif gets thrown into the dungeon, and he and Martin become friends. They escape and aid the Corim, the woodlander’s council, to help them win their freedom. They, joined by Dinny the mole, quest for Salamandastron, mountain of fire lizard, to bring back Boar the Fighter, Mossflower’s rightful ruler.
ReplyDeleteThis book is all about rebelling against unjust and opressive authority. We’ve been talking a lot about that in social studies. One other thing. Even when they have their enemies captured, they chose to let them live, under the condition that they never come back to Mossflower. I really enjoyed this book, but I found it a little unfair that ferrets, weasels, stoats, foxes, and rats were always “bad guys.” However, I did find it fair that not all the wildcats were evil. Indeed, Tsarmina’s little brother, Gingivere, was kind and gentle, and he helped the woodlanders. If politics today were more like they were in the world of Redwall, they would be so much more efficient and so much less idiotic.
I have read Mossflower, and most of the other Redwall books, too. I like Mossflower best, I think, of all the Redwall books.
ReplyDeleteAll of which have the rebelion theme to some extent.
However, Redwall politics would hearken back to the idea used in the dark ages. This would soon devolve into turmoil.
right now I am reading a book called the dimond of darkhold. Two people named Doon and Lina first Doon saw Lina in trouble with a pack of wolves and Doon throw a dimond at them then they were okay. Doon though that dimond was a sample he found while he was down in ember there old city. They went back inside and found a switch that said off or on the switch on. Then the walles moved they saw dimonds by the thousands and they though what they were for.
ReplyDeleteI am reading a book called hack the book is about this girl named akira and she is trying to save her younger brother that fallen into a coma while playing a game called The world and she is called in the world blckrose on the way she met kite who was playing the game same as akira and on the way kite found a braclet that this girl called aura gave him
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI am starting to read hack G.U. It is a boy named Ryou who is trying to save his friend Shino who was killed inside a game called The World. ryou's charecter named Haseo and his only trail leads to Tri-edge a player that put Shino into a comma.Haseo met Ovan a player who has a big cylinder arm on his charecter who he met earlier in the game.
ReplyDeleteI am starting to reads Eragon. It is about a boy named Eragon who finds a sapphire egg in the forest while he hunts for meat.
ReplyDeleteI am starting to reading I.Q. it is about a boy who's nickname is I.Q. his mom was a singer until she met Roger. They did a song together and in two weeks the song went platinum and they decided to marry each other.
ReplyDeleteI am in the middle of IQ and Angela told quest that her mother was a secret service agent and was working for the FBI before she died and Angela’s father roger wanted to know what was on the mission but the FBI did not tell him.
ReplyDelete